In Full-Circle Moment, Christian Vela Is Named Artistic Director of San Jose Jazz
As a freewheeling kid growing up in East San Jose in the late 1990s, Christian Vela anticipated each San Jose Jazz Festival with a mounting excitement that he can still recall vividly.
“It was the feeling you get the last day of school, or right before Christmas, then I’d get on my bike and ride down to the festival,” he recalls, still sounding amazed at seeing musicians he loved on the same downtown plaza stage where he’d skateboard. “One year, I ended up getting backstage and took a photo with Poncho Sanchez, who was a hero of mine. I couldn’t believe it!”
With today’s announcement that Vela will take over as artistic director of that very same festival — now known as Summer Fest, which from Aug. 7–9 brings dozens of jazz, blues, R&B, Latin and soul acts to downtown San José — he’s made a full-circle journey back to the organization that shaped his love of music.
Vela’s already made an impact since taking over as San Jose Jazz’s production manager in 2024, and his appointment last year as associate artistic director. He steps into the lead curator role in September, filling the big shoes of Bruce Labadie, the pervasively influential South Bay music programmer who’s booked Summer Fest since its inception in 1990.
At 45, Vela brings a wealth of experience to the position — and not just from riding his bike to the festival each year as a teenager. He served as SFJAZZ’s senior production manager for 11 years, from 2013-2024, followed by a year-long stint as COO of the Presidio Theatre. After coming back home, he’s spent the past two years under Labadie’s wing at San Jose Jazz.
“Christian knows how to work with artists,” says Labadie, whose half-century career encompasses booking three dozen venues and festivals across the state, including last summer’s Monterey Jazz Festival. “He’s involved in all kinds of other things that San Jose Jazz is doing, like the Break Room, but Summer Fest is a different level. I cautioned him, it’s non-stop work.”
Judging by his track record at the Break Room, an intimate venue that San Jose Jazz opened during the pandemic, Vela has already brought in a trove of new ideas. A self-described vinylphile, he added artist residencies into the Break Room mix, which includes taking musicians record hunting before they spin albums and discuss their formative influences for an audience.
“It’s actually very selfish, bringing together all the things that I like,” Vela says. “My partner and I are into vinyl — she spins as DJ Weekend Girl — and I wanted to think of a unique way to introduce a vinyl night.” Another idea of Vela’s was having the resident artist join an all-ages jam session that takes place on First Fridays.
One of four children born in San José to parents from Ciudad Juárez, Vela got his start as a musician playing guitar in church. When a group of friends at Independence High School gained traction with the ska band Firme, he became their tour manager. As the keeper of the band’s van, he ended up providing transportation for Manu Chao, and struck up a friendship with the polyglot French-Spanish star.
Around 2011, Manu Chao’s people dropped his name to the Malian couple Amadou and Mariam, who at the time were seeking a tour manager. Despite speaking rudimentary French, Vela jumped into the role.
“I did my homework on the instruments, learning how to set them up and mic them, and did my part in trying to learn French, taking courses on my phone,” Vela says. “I think they saw the effort I put forth, and I toured with them for almost three years.”
He was ready to come off the road and spend some time at home when Amadou and Mariam concluded a long tour with an SFJAZZ performance at Davies Symphony Hall in 2013. “I’m like a roadrunner all over the place, and the SFJAZZ production manager on stage was watching me,” recalls Vela, who ended up signing on with the recently opened SFJAZZ Center.
If he was helping forge a new venue identity at SFJAZZ, he’s taking on a very different role at San Jose Jazz, which for decades has maintained one of the West Coast’s premiere festivals by building upon San José’s downtown resources, like the Tech Museum, Montgomery Theater and expansive plaza.
“It’s one of my favorite festivals, and an advantage Christian has is that Bruce Labadie has given him a runway,” says bassist Marcus Shelby — who, as the artistic director of Healdsburg Jazz since 2020, knows all about taking over programming from a festival’s founder.
“It’s the perfect opportunity and situation for him,” Shelby adds. “He’s someone who loves and knows the heartbeat of the city.”